News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Jackson County Chamber’s new Executive Director said her work has already started.
Hope Vargas said she’s meeting with other Tennessee counties to see what can be replicated to boost tourism. Vargas said she is talking with a kayak group in Rhea County to see what can be done to improve outdoor recreation.
“Hopefully see what comes from that, but just working with the corps of engineers and the state,” Vargas said. “To see if we can, I don’t know increase the amount of fish in our area.”
Vargas said another part of her work starting out is seeing what kind of events and businesses the local community wants to see come in. Vargas said another goal is to bring together existing businesses to see what resources the chamber can provide.
“We’ve set up multiple meetings with counties in Tennessee, counties we see are doing things correctly,” Vargas said. “They say if something’s not broken, why fix it? So if we see counties doing some awesome things were going to try and come in and replicate that and do some different things, maybe some different events. To bring in more tourism to the area, which in turn just helps revenue, sales tax and that kind of thing.”
She said when her position was confirmed, work began immediately. Vargas said she spent over a month shadowing and making connections with president Jordan Hunter.
“I was talking with people and really making connections but then I’ve hit the ground running,” Vargas said. “It’s officially been a week and I took over July 1. So I’ve been working along side of Jordan and he’s shown me the ropes and I’m really excited for the opportunity.
Vargas said she grew up in Jackson County, graduating from Jackson County High School. She said she attended University of Tennessee Chattanooga where she graduated with a degree in early childhood education and special education.
She lived in the Dominican Republic for five years working with a non-profit. Vargas said she returned to Jackson County and used her education degree, before stepping away to be a stay at home mom.
